Welcome to the website of the Digital Media Law Project. The DMLP was a project of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society from 2007 to 2014. Due to popular demand the Berkman Klein Center is keeping the website online, but please note that the website and its contents are no longer being updated. Please check any information you find here for accuracy and completeness.

Primary links

Legal Resources for Digital Media

Search form

Pennsylvania Defamation Law

Note: This page covers information specific to Pennsylvania. For general information concerning defamation, see the Defamation Law section of this guide.

Elements of Defamation

Although Pennsylvania courts invoke a complicated statutory definition found in 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. §§ 8341-8345 (see especially § 8343), in practice the elements of a defamation claim are similar to the elements discussed in the general Defamation Law
section. However, Pennsylvania law has some characteristics that differ
slightly from the general section's description of defamation law:

Public and Private Figures

Pennsylvania defines when a plaintiff is a public official,
all-purpose public figure, and limited-purpose public figure in
more-or-less the way described in the Actual Malice and Negligence
section. Some examples of individuals deemed to be public officials or
all-purpose public figures by Pennsylvania courts include:

a locally renowned, Philadelphia-based singer who posed for as
a centerfold and was extensively interviewed in an accompanying article
in Playboy magazine;

a licensed architect and civil engineer who participated in
numerous public building projects that had been the subject of public
controversy; and

the president of an art foundation at the time the
foundation's paintings went on a widely publicized international art
exhibition tour.

Some examples of individuals deemed to be private figures by Pennsylvania courts include:

a person who allegedly misrepresented himself as a member of the board of a non-profit organization;

a dentist who received public reimbursement from state funds for dental work performed on lower-income patients; and

an individual planning to host of a private party when a neighbor called a newspaper to complain about the party.

Actual Malice and Negligence

In Pennsylvania, a private figure plaintiff bringing a
defamation lawsuit must prove that the defendant was at least negligent
with respect to the truth or falsity of the allegedly defamatory
statements. Public officials, all-purpose public figures, and
limited-purpose public figures must prove that the defendant acted with
actual malice, i.e., knowing that the statements were false or
recklessly disregarding their falsity. See the general page on actual malice and negligence for details on these standards.

Most of the privileges and defenses to defamation can be
defeated if the plaintiff proves that the defendant acted with actual
malice. This does not apply to immunity under section 230 of the
Communications Decency Act.

The Fair Report Privilege

Pennsylvania recognizes the fair report privilege.
The privilege applies to reports and summaries of information contained
in government reports or discussed in government proceedings. This
includes court proceedings, court records, and open meetings. It also applies to government press releases, including police press releases.

The privilege applies to "fair and accurate" accounts of the
underlying documents or proceedings. A report is fair and accurate if
it is "substantially accurate." A plaintiff may overcome the fair
report privilege by showing that the defendant acted with actual malice.

The CMLP could not locate any cases in Pennsylvania that apply
the single publication rule in the context of a statement published on
the Internet. If you are aware of any Pennsylvania cases that
acknowledge the single publication rule in the Internet context, please
notify us.

We are looking for contributing authors with expertise in media law, intellectual property, First Amendment, and other related fields to join us as guest bloggers. If you are interested, please contact us for more details.

Disclaimer

Information in this guide is based on general principles of law and is intended for information purposes only; we make no claim as to the comprehensiveness or accuracy of the information. It is not offered for the purpose of providing individualized legal advice. Use of this guide does not create an attorney-client or any other relationship between the user and the Digital Media Law Project or the Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

Main menu

Copyright 2007-19 Digital Media Law Project and respective authors. Except where otherwise noted,content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License: Details.Use of this site is pursuant to our Terms of Use and Privacy Notice.